Contents

Biography

Mr. Huja is the President of Community Planning Associates, focusing on planning, design, development, and management consulting. He was Director of Strategic Planning for the City of Charlottesville from 1998 to 2004. Prior to that he was Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Charlottesville for 25 years. His experiences are in the area of Downtown Revitalization, Housing, Historic Preservation, Transportation Planning, Art and Culture Activities, and Neighborhood Revitalization. He also has been a consultant to the City of Pleven, Bulgaria for Economic Development and Tourism Marketing. Family: Wife- Irene, 2 Sons (Uday-35, Ajai- 32) and 1 Step son (Ben – 33).

In response to Charlottesville Tomorrow's preparations for Election 2007, Mr. Huja said his favorite volunteer activity was working in a soup kitchen.

Vote of confidence

A citizen appeared before Council at their July 18, 2011 meeting to complain about Huja's accent. Pat Napoleon said Huja should be required to hire a translator because she found it hard to understand him. Councilor Kristin Szakos defended Huja and called for a vote of confidence in him, which passed 4-0. [3]

Huja announced a bid for a second term on March 25, 2011. [5] He was the top vote-getter in the Charlottesville Democratic Party's fire-house primary. [6] He also received the most votes in the general election. [2]

Issues

Yes I support construction of the Meadow Creek Parkway. It will provide better access to downtown and reduce traffic in adjacent residential neighborhoods, i.e., Park Street.This project takes approximately 5 acres of land and adds 49 acres of open space in this corridor.

Do you support the approved water supply plan or a different approach?

I support a joint approach which does partial dredging of the Rivanna Reservoir and provides a 30-foot new dam.This joint approach will provide sufficient water for the needs of our community for the foreseeable future. Dredging alone does not provide sufficient water for the existing needs of the community let alone future needs. Along with city and county growth, the university is going to double its water demand in the next 10 years from 1.5 million gal/day to 3.1 million gal/day.We need to think ahead and make sure that our basic needs of water are met.The Ragged Mountain property was bought for water use after expansion of the water pool; 90 percent of the land will still be natural area and can be used for trails.

What is the most important thing the city can do to create jobs?

Our city can do a number of things to help create new jobs. It can provide tax incentives for businesses to locate in the city. In the last year the city has given tax breaks to locate 600 new jobs in downtown.The city can encourage biomedical jobs as spinoffs from UVa.The city can also provide targeted job training so there will be skilled labor for new industry.The city can also encourage the growth of existing small businesses and encourage entrepreneurs to start businesses in Charlottesville.

Does the city have an affordable housing problem? What should council do?

The city does need more affordable housing but it also needs middle income housing to support our schools and neighborhoods. City Council has spent a significant amount of funds in the last four years for affordable housing, approximately $10 million. The city needs to develop partnerships with nonprofit, as well as for-profit, housing developers.The city can seek proffers for affordable housing in new mixed use developments. City can also support mixed-use and income development with CRHA.

What should the city do on the issue of addressing poverty?

Our city can do a number of things to alleviate poverty. First, it can provide education and training to young people, and second, where necessary, retraining of existing labor force.Thirdly, our city can establish targeted job training programs for families in poverty. Last, but not least, it can encourage them to start small businesses.

What is the city’s biggest challenge in transportation?

Our city has a fair amount of traffic congestion in the community.We need to encourage alternative modes of transportation.We need to build a better and safer system of bikeways and provide more frequent and dependable transit system, if we want people to use alternative modes.

What will be your top priority if elected?

I will start an additional energy conservation program for existing homes and businesses, as well as new homes and businesses. This will result in less use of energy, less environmental impact and will save money on monthly bills for businesses and residents. will promote development of interconnected network of pedestrian ways and bikeways so that it will be easy and safe to use those modes of transportation. I will also restructure the transit system to be more dependable and frequent. I will have a concentrated program of improvement of our deteriorating infrastructure especially in the areas of water, sewer and drainage lines.